I Will Never Forget
by Candymouse22
Summary: Brightheart remembers her bestfriend and the event that killed him and mauled her face. I don't own the cover art, though I wish I did. :(


**NOTE: When Brightheart says 'you' or 'your' she is refering to Swiftpaw**

I will never forget how hard it was to look past my envy and be happy for Cloudtail when Bluestar made him a warrior. I had been apprenticed _moons_ before Cloudtail, why hadn't Bluestar given me _my_ warrior name?! It wasn't fair!  
I will never forget your expression as we watch the ceremony; your black and white tail was bristling with anger.  
I will never forget the guilty look Fireheart shot you, Thornpaw, Ashpaw, Fernpaw, and I afterwards. He had told us earlier that he would talk to Bluestar about making us warriors, but Bluestar refused to.

I will never forget when you called a meeting later that night. You proposed a plan to make us warriors, a bold and brilliant plan. We would find what was stealing our prey from the Sunning Rocks. Surely Bluestar would make us warriors then! You were confident that your plan would succeed. Fernpaw and Ashpaw, who were only reccently apprenticed, did not want to join you. Thornpaw, my brother, thought it was reckless and also declined. Only I joined you, though it was mostly because I didn't want you to go alone.  
I will never forget sneaking out of the camp behind the elders' den. I was so nervous that we would be caught and _never_ be made warriors! Fortunately for us, we were able to sneak out without being seen, minus Fernpaw, who, unknowingly to us, watched with worried green eyes.

I will never forget how my heart pounded as we made our way to the Sunning Rocks. _Is this really worth it?_ I thought to myself. Of course it was! Once we found what was responsible for taking our prey, the two of us would be made warriors!  
I will never forget when the first dog came. We had smelled something, but you called out, "There's nothing here!" As soon as you said that, a dog leaped out of the cave and had your throat in its jaws.

I will never forget how badly I wanted to run. That dog was _huge_ , it was the largest dog I had ever seen! But I couldn't abandon you. You writhed in the dog's massive jaws until it flung you across the clearing like a piece of prey. Despite this, you got back up and attacked the dog.  
I will never forget when I struck the dog across the face with my claws. It jumped back, yelping. I briefly thought, "W _e'll be okay, it's just one dog, and there's two of us."_ But then the other dogs began approaching, all of them at least four times our size.

I will never forget how the ground felt like it was shaking as the dogs growled, **_"_** ** _PACK, PACK, KILL, KILL."_**  
I will never forget when they sprung at us and the feeling of my claws sinking into soft underbelly.  
I will never forget hearing you hiss and yowl in rage as you fought the dogs.  
I will never forget when the air was knock out of my body and the world turned upside down. You yowled my name, thought I barely heard you.  
I will never forget seeing dust, legs like trees, flying fur, and _blood_. So much blood, most of it ours.  
I will never forget you escaping the pack and climbing a tree, only to be flung down by one of the dogs' massive paws. You flung yourself at them, determinded to make it out alive.  
I will never forget when my eyes filled with blood and everything went black. I was still conscious, though, and I heard growls and snarls as you continued to fight hte dogs.  
I will never forget being tossed into the air, as if I were as light as feather, only to fall against a rock and into unconsciousness.

I will never forget when I woke up three sunrises later in the medicine cat's den, Cloudtail by my side. As soon as I moved, he awoke, like he had been waiting for me. Fernpaw had told Dustpelt about how we had gone to the Sunning Rocks and Fireheart, Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Cloudtail had gone on a patrol to find us, but they were to late for you, as I was told that you had died before the patrol found us. Cinderpelt told me that I had been crying out, " _Pack, pack, kill, kill_ " while I was asleep.  
I will never forget the panic that I felt when I noticed that the right side of my face was frozen and I couldn't see from that eye. To my horror, I was told that I had lost an eye and well as most of the fur on one side of my face! I was also given a terrible warrior name: _Lostface_. When I first came out of Cinderpelt's den, everyone looked at me with terror and quickly turned away. I remember hearing Frostfur, my mother cry that yet another one of her kits had been irrepairably damaged.  
I will never forget when I saw myself for the first time since the dog attack. _No wonder everyone avoid looking at me!_ I thought, horrified by my reflection. At that moment, I wished that I had died with you. All I was was a cat with a mauled face and a scary name; no cat would ever love me, or so I thought.

I will never forget how kind Cloudtail was (and still is) to me. He never called me by the horrid name and he helped me train with my one eye! I realized that I still had hope.  
I will never forget when Firestar changed my name during Thornclaw's warrior ceremony. No longer was I Lostface, but Brightheart. Still, I mourned that you were not at my side receiving your warrior name too.

Shortly after the battle with BloodClan, Cloudtail and I became mates and our first kit, Whitewing, was born. It was on of the happiest moments of my life! As my family congratulated me, I thought I saw your black and white pelt, but when I blinked, you were gone. Though it has been seasons since your death in the Forrest, I have never forgotten you and I will _never_ forget you fighting like all of LionClan, Swiftpaw.

* * *

 **So, what did you think? I had thought about writing a one-shot about the dog attack from Swiftpaw's perspective, but then I decided to write this! I was inspired to write this by an English assignment when we were reading Elie Wiesel's _Night._ We had to write a poem about an event and it had to repeat, _"Never shall I forget."_ I wasn't sure if I would get acused of plagarism so I just changed it to** **for this. I might do a another chapter about Swiftpaw, but that probably won't be for a little bit since I go back to school tomorrow. :(  
I hope that you enjoyed reading this and leave a review! 0u0  
-Candymouse22**


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